"CM Matteo and I believe VZ march should not be allowed & encourage NYPD/MTA to devise plans to prevent it call on BDB [Bill de Blasio] to intervene with organizers to have march in safer less disruptive place that won't neg impact borough, set precedent for closing bridge for marches and cost so much."

Rep. Michael Grimm said Wednesday in a statement addressed to Mayor Bill de Blasio that "closing the Verrazano Bridge is simply not an option."

"Staten Island already bears the burden as the traffic and pothole capital of the country, not to mention having the most exorbitant toll in the nation," Grimm said in the statement. "To close our only direct passage to the rest of the City on a summer travel weekend is a recipe for total disaster. There's a reason the bridge has rarely been closed in its 50-year history; because the major disruption and safety risks are massive: our small businesses - already coping with the outrageous tolls - would bear an even greater financial burden, families would be severely impacted, and the Staten Island Expressway would be a parking lot. FDNY and EMT facilities in southern Brooklyn that serve Staten Island's north shore neighborhoods would be cut off in the event of an emergency, and that is unacceptable."

Borough President James Oddo chimed in on Twitter:

We should be building bridges in our community, not marching over them.

Garner, a 43-year-old father of six, died while in police custody from an apparent chokehold at the corner of Victory Boulevard and Bay Street. Plainclothes officer Daniel Pantaleo can be seen in a viral video using the maneuver to bring down the 350-pound Garner while trying to arrest him for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.